Miley Cyrus knows how to work a room. The 33-year-old pop icon has been a Hollywood staple for much of her life and when it comes to pitching herself to directors for projects, Miley has a surefire method that seems to be working out for her: go to where they all are.
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A perfect case in point is Cyrus’ dramatic end credits song “Dream As One” in the new Avatar: Fire and Ash movie from director James Cameron, which opened on Dec. 19 and has already raked in nearly $220 million in the U.S. and more than $760 million globally.
Speaking to People, Cyrus said the Avatar job came about because she threw it out there, “as I always do,” in describing her first meeting Cameron at the 2024 D23 Expo, where they were both honored as Disney Legends. “I already knew the answer to, ‘So what have you been up to? I know he’s been up to Avatar for a very long time,” she said.
So, Cyrus reminded Cameron that she was available if he ever needed some movie music, which was perfect timing as the director was developing the third in a planned five-movie series. “It just kind of organically happened,” she said of the soundtrack job. “James actually calls us ‘Legends in law.’”
Cyrus revealed that she also landed her Golden Globe-nominated song “Beautiful That Way” from the Pam Anderson drama The Last Showgirl last year by going directly to the movie’s co-star, Jamie Lee Curtis. “That’s how I ended up doing Last Showgirl and now being a part of Avatar,” she said.
As it turns out, directly offering original songs to movie makers is a pretty efficient method for scoring soundtrack gigs. In fact, Cyrus just cut out the middleman this year and said she specifically attended the 2025 Oscars intending to offer up her services. “No, literally that’s why I went to the Oscars this year,” she said. “Everybody that came up and introduced themselves, I said, ‘Well, if you need any music, I’m around.’”
She even pronounced herself available for shows that might not have second seasons. “I don’t know what I would write for Baby Reindeer season two, but I threw that out there!,” she said of her offer to the team behind Netflix’s Emmy-winning psychological thriller Baby Reindeer.
